College

I mentioned in my previous post that I had started back at college as a mature student. I decided to enrol at Leek college as it's the closest to home and also I really like Leek as a town, it's full of old buildings and is all wonky/higgledy-piggledy. By some miracle it retains many of its original cobbled street surfaces - I love cobbled streets a lot. It's always a source of enjoyment just visiting Leek and now I'm at college there I get to explore even more!

As my class is so small we occupy smaller classrooms in the old building (part of the Nicholson Institute). I was quietly delighted on my first day inside this new (to me) space, it's full of architectural interest. Sadly somebody at some point has decided the glazed/unglazed interior brickwork ought to be painted over with thick stippled masonry paint, presumably to 'brighten up' the corridors. Madness.

This clock! The surround! I bet a horologist would love to get their hands on this clock, give it a going-over, a service and a clean. It's the nicest clock I've seen in ages. On the clock face it says "I mark time. Dost thou?". I surreptitiously snapped some photos on my phone during a tea break.

I think I'll lug my proper camera in next week or at some point anyway. Honestly, this building is fantastic, it's such an inspiring place to be learning in.
Here are some photos of the rear of the building. It's a very solid, imposing structure from behind, classic Victorian really, reminds me of the viaduct* near to my parents' house.

The 'sticking out' section is a window seat if I remember correctly, that said, I think there's another on the other side, higher up. 

 I believe the large glazed room on the ground floor is the art studio. The space right at the top is the Nicholson Gallery and in the middle is the public library. I've never been into the library so I'll add that onto my list of Nicholson Exploration.

A scholar? (Looks like he/she's wearing a mortarboard). The mason's child? Who knows, what a lovely little face though.

A couple of lovely display cases as you enter the building, I believe Leek was a textile town much like Macc and Congleton were. There are lots of embroidery examples in the gallery upstairs and here we can see spinning... I need to do some Leek history research really.

Cast iron radiators!!!!!!! Lovely to sit on, I used to like it at school when they'd been glossed, they used to smell incredible.

*The viaduct impressed and scared me in equal measure as a child. I'm not sure if it was the sheer size of it, the thought of men up so high laying the bricks, that coupled with the melancholy feeling I always got down there at the edge of the woods with the damp smell of the brook running under the viaduct and alongside the field/wood edge. It certainly made an impression.